Clara Oswald is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing companions yet if there is wonderful prequel to this week’s season 7 return episode of Dr Who is any guide.
As the Doctor sits on a swing gently rocking back and forth, a wise-beyond-her-years little girl, who can’t understand why he is on the playground equipment at all because he is “old”, engages him in discussion, despite her mother telling him she shouldn’t speak with “strange men”.
After admitting he’s way beyond strange, the enormously self-aware little girl goes on to give the Doctor some sage advice about trying to find the friend he keeps losing (that would be Clara), which the Doctor takes to heart as he keeps swinging while the young girl goes off with her mother.
But that is not all my friends.
There is a brilliant reveal to this brief but perfectly-formed tale that will have you gasping with excitement …
This charming prequel, is of course, just the curtain raiser to the intriguing opening episode of the second half of season 7, “The Bells of Saint John” which exploits that irrational human fear of the things-that-go-bump-in-the-night, the sense that something menacing is lurking in the shadows just beyond our field of vision.
And it appears that for once those fears are well founded as the official synopsis for the episode makes clear:
“The Doctor’s search for Clara Oswald brings him to modern day London, where humanity lives in a wi-fi soup. But something dangerous is lurking in the signals, picking off minds and imprisoning them. As Clara becomes the target of this insidious menace, the Doctor races to save her and the world from an ancient enemy.”
It’s a fair bet that our ingenious, resourceful friend, the Doctor will get to the bottom of this insidious threat, and save a blissfully-unaware humanity once again, but getting there looks like it’s going to be one hell of a ride!
So strap yourselves and get ready for the ringing of “The Bells of Saint John” which premieres March 30.